Missouri town's top officer faces child sex charges

FREDERICKTOWN, Mo. (AP) -- Authorities say a Boy Scout leader who is also the top police officer of an eastern Missouri town has admitted to having sex with young boys, videotaping the sessions then destroying the recordings.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol arrested 42-year-old Kenneth Tomlinson II on Tuesday. Tomlinson, who captains the police force in the small town of Fredericktown, is charged with 16 counts of sodomy involving two boys, ages 12 and 14.

Tomlinson is jailed on $100,000 cash-only bond. He led a Boy Scout troop in Fredericktown but has now been stripped of his membership in the organization.

A probable cause statement says Tomlinson admitted to having sex with the boys beginning in spring 2009. He told investigators he videotaped the acts before destroying the recordings.